Washington Watch: Change has come, and gone, to 'mySocialSecurity'

At the beginning of July, the Social Security Administration launched a new system to provide better security for the "mySocialSecurity" account on its website, www.ssa.gov. The new system is known as MFA - for multifactor authentication.

However, it received such a negative reaction that SSA has dropped the requirement to use a cell phone to access this account. Nor is it any longer mandatory to provide a cell phone number to receive text messages.

"We continue to pursue more options beyond cell phone texting," said SSA on its Facebook page. It does, however, note that for those who have a text-capable cell phone the MFA does provide an extra measure of security.

The "mySocialSecurity" account allows people obtain an estimate of their benefits and earnings and report an address change, among other functions.

Military veterans of any conflict may soon be able to select their own primary care doctor, according to a recommendation from the Commission on Care. The commission was established in 2014 to improve veterans' access to health care after reports that many veterans were not receiving care, and even dying, due to mishandling of records and delays in wait time to see a doctor.

The most important recommendation in its 300-page final report is to allow veterans to chose their own primary care providers. The doctors, however, must be credentialed by the Veterans Administration's health care system. Specialty care providers can be accessed through referrals from primary care doctors. The VA may also broaden the definition of primary care providers to cover other specialties based on need, such as endocrinologists for diabetics.

In a statement, Robert A. McDonald, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, noted that improvements have already come to veterans wait times, with 97 percent of appointments completed within 30 days of veterans' preferred dates, of which 22 percent are same-day visits. Average wait times are five days for primary care, six for specialty and two for mental health.

McDonald further noted that VA has reduced the "backlog of disability compensation claims by 90 percent since 2013."

Restaurant charged with discrimination

A lawsuit has been brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Texas Roadhouse, a national restaurant chain, on charges of age discrimination in the hiring of its "front of the house" staff.

The suit alleges that the chain has refused to hire those over 40 years of age for positions such as servers, hosts and bartenders. The suit further charges that Texas Roadhouse "allegedly instructed its managers to hire younger job applicants" and that in hiring asked such questions as "how do you feel about working with younger people."

"Restaurants may not refuse to consider older workers as applicants merely because of their age," said Elizabeth Grossman, regional attorney for the New York District. Furthermore, Jacqueline Berrien, EEOC Chair, noted that "the number of age discrimination charges filed with the EEOC has risen significantly over the years."

For further information or to learn more about filing charges, visit www.eeoc.gov.

New research on Alzheimer's

The Alzheimer's Association is providing $1 million to fund each of four cutting-edge studies to explore brain inflammation as a possible answer to the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease. An additional $3 million will be dedicated to underwriting a competition among clinical trials that offer the most promise for treatment.

This is part of what is known as the "Part the Cloud Challenge on Neuroinflammation," advanced by Michaela Hoag, a member of the Zenith Society, a philanthropic arm.

Hoag's father passed away with Alzheimer's and when her mother also began to show signs of the same disease, "I knew I had to kick these efforts into high gear," she said. Along with other donors, Hoag's efforts have raised more than $17 million for Alzheimer's research.

"Increasing evidence suggests neuroinflammation plays an important role in the brain changes that occur in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases," noted Maria Carillo, Ph.D., the Alzheimer's Association chief science officer.

There have always been health care areas that Medicare does not cover. It took over 20 years for the program to provide coverage for certain preventive services, such as bone density measurement and colonoscopy screenings, but it still does not assist in payment for such things as eye glasses, hearing aids, and dental work.

In at least one of these areas, beneficiaries can help themselves. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), there are a number of oral issues that can be taken care of with regular daily brushing and caring for dentures.

For more information, and a one-page fact sheet on "Oral Health Concerns for Older Adults," visit the website at www.ada.org, enter "older adults" in the search function.